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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · wave · sharp · face · cold · clip · prune · object

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. sharp — clever
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. prune — to trim
  6. ball — a dance
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. prune — to trim
  10. object — to protest
  11. face — to point toward
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. object — a thing
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. object — an aim
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. face — to confront

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com